Rep. Mike Rogers: Obamacare Waivers for Everyone

Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan has introduced legislation that he feels would solve the spectacular debate sparked by Obamacare: waivers for all. Everyone.

Coming on the heels of the latest waivers granted to companies (the Department of Health and Human Services posted 126 new waivers on Friday, March 4, boosting the grand total of one-year waivers to 1,040), Rogers’ legislation would provide everyone with the chance to opt out of certain aspects of the health law requirements, including the mandate to carry insurance or face a penalty. Currently, waivers have been granted only to corporations (think McDonald’s) and unions.

Rogers

"If the [Service Employees International Union] gets a waiver, and McDonald's gets a waiver . . . shouldn't the average person who's impacted by this get a waiver too?" Rogers, a Republican, asked in an interview, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The entire state of Maine can now be added to the list of those who are granted exemptions: After the MEGA Life and Health Insurance Co. said it would stop selling policies in the state if it didn’t get the exemption (the company provides policies to some 37 percent of people who buy independently of employers) HHS caved to a three-year exemption.

Rogers’ plan is garnering support from some unlikely sources: Rep. Dan Boren, D-Okla., is onboard and is a staunch advocate, the Journal reports.

In his remarks to Congress on May 26, 2010, which have now become something of a YouTube sensation, Rogers railed against Democrats who pushed Obamacare on a nation of people with very distinctive needs: “That’s like putting a king-size sheet on a queen-size bed.” One plan won’t fit all, in living-room parlance.

Rogers stressed that Obamacare is nothing short of a government takeover of healthcare: “Let me tell you about the tradeoffs by going to this government-run system. And it clearly is: In section 141 they can actually dis-enroll individuals.”